


Couple Piercing

by silenteaser



Series: the teddy bear and the devil in disguise. [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Ear Piercings, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Or Is It?, Slice of Life, sadly I'm bad at Titles and Tagging, slight comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 19:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13347648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silenteaser/pseuds/silenteaser
Summary: Seungcheol wanted a discount so he drags Joshua to pretend to be his lover.





	Couple Piercing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bidachii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bidachii/gifts).



> This was supposed to be a part of a larger story but it didn't go the way I wanted it to be. Set in an AU bidachii and I created. :) They live in L.A and are studying in a Christian School. Also, Seungcheol has an English name: Christian.

 

The tattoo shop was crammed between two taller buildings. It looked squeezed, as if the neighbors were slowly closing in on it. The sign was pretty old; some of the letters had become almost illegible in the peeling paint. But the window was well-maintained and you could clearly see a few people inside the shop.

Seungcheol carelessly pushed open the door and a bell rang somewhere above him. A big man stepped out of a room to greet him. He was wearing a tight black AC/DC shirt—tall, a bit buff, with brown skin and a hairless head; his ears lined with numerous piercings, and tattoos inking the entire length of his right arm.

“Welcome, what can I do for you today?” Despite the burly appearance, the man’s voice was soft and friendly.

“I’d like to have my ear pierced,” Seungcheol answered. He already had two helix piercings on his right ear, however, his left was still completely bare. There was no special reason behind this trip, he just wanted another one.

“Ah, we have a few selections here.” The man beckoned for him to follow towards a glass display with arrays of jewelries inside. “We actually have a Special Lovers Discount this week. Do you want to get a matching one with your boyfriend?” The man offered with a toothy smile. “It’s a 25% discount for a set.”

“My boyfriend?” Seungcheol blinked dumbly. He was utterly confused as to why the man had thought he was in a relationship, more so when he assumed he was gay.

The burly man shifted his eyes next to Seungcheol—to Joshua, his best friend, who had been trailing silently behind him all this time. He wore the same uniform as Seungcheol; a dark navy blazer over a white collared shirt with their school’s logo patched on its chest, slacks and a red tie. The only difference between them was in the way they wore it. Joshua wore his meticulously neat which only a model student could ever pull off, while Seungcheol couldn’t even care less if his tie was hanging loosely, the top buttons of shirt undone or if there were visible creases on his blazer.

_ ‘Oh, he thinks we’re dating.’  _ Seungcheol thought when he finally assessed the situation.

“We are not—” Joshua, blushing upon the man’s mistake, was about to deny it. However, Seungcheol quickly shut him up by slipping an arm around his waist and pulling him closer to his side.

“Yes, we would love that!” Seungcheol yelled with a gummy smile. “Wouldn’t we, honey?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow, which translated to ‘ _what the hell are you doing?_ ’ to Seungcheol _._ He tried to pull away but the other had pressed him firmly against his side, not allowing him to escape out of his grip.

“Didn’t you tell me that you wanted to have a couple item with me? I think this one would be a good way to finally show everyone we are dating.” Seungcheol gave Joshua a hard look, telling him not to ask any more questions and to just go with the flow. He wanted to have that 25% discount.

“Are you sure you two are a couple?” The guy looked at them suspiciously, not completely buying their whole act.

“Of course, we are.” Seungcheol said while pinching Joshua’s side to urge him to say something agreeable.

Joshua looked at him like he was unsure. Seungcheol could sense the doubt radiating from him like heat off a radiator. This wouldn't work if Joshua wasn't on board. He knew he had to convince his friend, but Joshua was too hesitant to easily persuade unless a compromise was made.

Seungcheol leaned closer and whispered against Joshua’s ear. “ _ I’d wager a deal with you. Just pretend we are dating and I’ll owe you a favor. Just name anything later and I’ll do it without question, whatever it is. _ ”

Joshua eyed him for a moment. He could see his friend was deeply contemplating whether to take the bite or just expose Seungcheol’s lie to the man.

_ “Come on. Help me here, buddy. _ ” Seungcheol pleaded. “ _ I promise I’ll do anything you ask me. _ ”

“ _Fine, you owe me one._ ” Joshua whispered back. “ _But_ _remember what you said, you’ll do anything._ ”

There was a glint on the corner of Joshua’s eyes that had Seungcheol thinking of taking his words back. He wondered if getting that discount would even be worth it when Joshua cashed in on that favor later.

“Excuse me, but if you are not a couple you wouldn’t be able to avail the special discount,” the attendant said.

“No, we are indeed a couple.” Joshua showed him a smile that could instantly melt any person’s defenses as he snaked both his arms around Seungcheol. Then he gazed lovingly at Seungcheol as if he was indeed in love with his best friend. “It’s just that my  _ boyfriend  _ here normally doesn’t like these kinds of stuff. He thinks they’re silly. Don’t you, honey?” Joshua pinched Seungcheol’s cheek painfully which the other endured without a word. “I am just surprised that he’s willingly doing this on his own right now.”

“Oh, is that so?” The attendant looked like he was still unconvinced but proceeded to show them the couple items they have. “If you find anything you like, just call for my attention.” He said before moving on to attend to the new customer who just came in.

“What are you trying to do, Chris?” Joshua spoke under his breath when the attendant was finally out of earshot.

“I want that discount.” Seungcheol simply stated. His eyes were already scanning the display case.

Joshua stared at him in disbelief. “You made me lie to a person just for a small discount?”

“Yep, and you did a pretty good job at it, too.” Seungcheol nodded. “Have you ever considered becoming an actor instead of becoming a priest?”

“It’s just 25%, for goodness sake! You could easily afford that 25%!  _ I _ could even lend you that 25% if you don’t have it!” The raise in Joshua’s voice drew the attention of the attendant back to them. Joshua immediately smiled sweetly at the man and pretended to snuggle against Seungcheol, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“A discount is a discount, no matter how small it is. It would be a waste not to avail it.” Seungcheol moved them down the display, further away from the attendant. “Besides I am saving some money.”

“For what?” Joshua asked.

“Ah, I think this one is perfect for you.” Seungcheol pointed to a set on the display instead of answering the query. A grin immediately crossed his lips when he saw the sparkle in Joshua’s eyes when his friend laid his gaze on it. By then Seungcheol knew that he would be hearing no more questions from the other.

One of the things Seungcheol knew about his friend was that Joshua never liked anything too fancy. That was why a simple titanium cross would be perfect for him.

\--------

“It looks good on you,  _ boyfriend _ .” Seungcheol teased, his arms snaking around Joshua from behind. He was still playfully pretending to be lovers even though the attendant has long retired back into the backroom. “So rebellious.”

“You do know my parents won’t like this, right?” Joshua said as he checked his freshly pierced ear in the mirror, the cross earring now decorating his once bare left ear. Surprisingly, the whole thing wasn’t as painful as he had imagined it to be.

“Yeah, that’s why I asked you to do it… aside from getting that discount, of course.” Seungcheol smirked, the other piece of the set adorning his own left ear. “I bet your mom will flip once she sees you with it.”

“I could already hear her screeching inside my head.” Joshua grimaced. He wasn’t really sure why he allowed himself to get roped into this so easily when he knew his mother wouldn’t be pleased once she learned about it. She had always been the conservative type.

“ _Joshua Hong, who do you think you are tainting the sacred body the Lord had given you?! Go to your room and recite the Lord’s Prayer a hundred times, read the Bible and ask for forgiveness for your sins!_ ” Seungcheol imitated Joshua’s mom in a very exaggerated shrill, high pitched voice. “ _It’s that devil child of the Choi’s fault, isn’t it? I told you not to be friends with him! He’s a bad influence! A tumor to the society! His soul will burn in hell, I tell you!_ ”

Joshua was supposed to get mad at Seungcheol for making fun of his mother yet he couldn’t stop himself from letting out a loud laughter because what his friend just said probably wasn’t too far from the truth.

Joshua’s mother never liked Seungcheol because she thought he was a problem child, a bad influence to her son. She wasn’t alone, though. Most of the people around them would agree with her. The two friends were of polar opposites. Seungcheol was a well-known delinquent; rough, unmannered, often got involved in fights and almost everything he touched would end up broken. Joshua, on the other hand, was a model student, the darling of the crowd, an angel among a crowd of peasants. It was a big mystery to everyone as to why the sweet and kind Joshua would ever hang out with a ruffian like Seungcheol.

But the others didn’t know Seungcheol like Joshua did. To others, he looked like this scary, tough man who would beat anyone up if they so much as looked his way. But to Joshua, Seungcheol was as harmful as a teddy bear if you just knew the right buttons to press.

“You’re really not helping your case here when she already thinks you’re a hooligan who needs to be bathed in holy water at least twice a day,” Joshua said when he finally finished letting the laughter out of his system.

“Your parents already thought I’m a bad egg from the beginning anyway. There’s no point in trying to change my image in front of them. I might as well do my part as the sexy bad friend.” Seungcheol sat his chin on Joshua’s shoulder, finding it really comfortable.

“Nobody said you were sexy.” Joshua rolled his eyes.

“Pfft, I know I am.” He threw his gaze at him, trying to pull off a smoldering look that most girls wouldn’t be able to resist. “And I know you think I’m sexy.”

“I don’t...” Joshua glanced over him, trying to cast a deadpan expression, yet he failed. His mouth twitched as he tries to fight off a smile.

“One of the upsides to being your best friend is that I can easily tell if you’re lying.” There at the corner of Seungcheol’s lips was a crease of amusement when a faint blush slowly appeared on Joshua’s cheeks. “And I say you’re lying.”

“I think you’re an idiot, not sexy.” Joshua placed a finger on Seungcheol’s forehead and pushed him away. Once the hold on him loosened, he immediately wriggled out of Seungcheol’s hold.

“I am still not buying it. Just admit you find your best friend sexy. There’s no shame to that!” Seungcheol chuckled as he let go of his friend and moved towards a seat right next to the mirror.

Joshua just glared at Seungcheol as he rubbed the blush away from his cheeks.

“I don’t think I’d be able to go back in this place ever again.” Not that he would have any other reason to be in a tattoo shop in the first place, Joshua thought. “The people here already think that we’re a gay couple because you’re a big cheapskate. Also if we showed up at school wearing these couple earrings, they might think like that as well.”

“So what?” Seungcheol said as he grabbed a magazine in a rack.

“You’re not bothered by it?” Joshua stared dumbfounded at how unbothered his friend was at the thought.

“Have you ever seen me giving a single fuck on what other people might think of me?” Seungcheol casually said while flipping through the magazine. “And if they do say a word about it and it annoys me, I could always accidentally land my fist on their noses.”

“You will do no such thing. If you get into another fight, you might get expelled for real this time.” Joshua frowned.

“Actually, I’d like that. I’m tired of that pretentious school anyway. I just stayed there because you’d be lonely without me.”

“That’s not funny.”

“Relax, I promise that won’t ever happen. It’s not like you’re going to let me anyway.” Finding the magazine boring, Seungcheol tossed it back to where he got it and searched for a more interesting read. “And you don’t have to worry about people possibly talking about us being a gay couple. They already are. We might as well mess with their heads even more. That would be quite fun. I’d like to see what your admirers would do this time.”

“Hold on. What did you say? There’s such gossip going around at school? When? How come I didn’t know about it?” Joshua’s eyes widened. This was news to him. How could he not know about such rumors?

“It never reached you because of this.” Seungcheol pointed at his fist with a proud smile, like a kid showing off a star he had earned in class to his mother. However, his smile died faster than wisps of smoke dissipating after a candle flame has been snuffed out when Joshua glared down at him in return. Seungcheol slowly hid his fist behind him.

“Seungcheol Christian Choi, tell me exactly what goes around the school.” Joshua demanded.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I already made it clear to them that we aren’t like that. Or at least my fist made them stop from speculating.” Seungcheol went back into digging through the magazine rack just to avoid his friend’s heated glare. “Besides… You and I? Gay? I mean, that’s a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? You might not have had any girlfriends since you were born and are still a big ass virgin, but you’re definitely not gay. I would know if you were, right? Because you’d tell me if you swing that way.”

There was no immediate response from Joshua. After a few seconds passed, Seungcheol decided to raise his eyes to check if the other was still there.

And he was.

Joshua was looking down at his feet, a troubled look on his pretty face. His hands were curled into fists.

“Hey, Josh, were you listening?” Seungcheol asked.

Joshua raised his eyes off the floor to meet Seungcheol’s. His soft lips stretched into a smile but it didn't quite reach his dark eyes.

“Yeah… I was. And of course, I would tell you. You are my best friend, after all.”

Seungcheol noticed it. He knew his friend was troubled by what he had just said. He could tell Joshua was holding something back from him. Like he wanted to tell him something but was afraid of a consequence he didn’t know. He wanted to ask him what was wrong and reassure him that he needn’t to worry about the rumors, but he was not given a chance to do so since Joshua had already started moving towards the door in haste.

“Let’s go. I need to get back home and face my mom’s wrath.” He pulled the door wide open and then paused. “If she’s going to make me read the Bible, I will make sure you will listen through it and suffer along with me.”

Seungcheol instantly regretted his decision of ever asking for Joshua’s cooperation. Now that he had thought about it, the 25% discount wasn’t worth it compared to the suffering he was going through. Joshua’s mom had indeed freaked out the moment he saw his son with a pierced ear and made him loudly recite an entire book in the Bible that evening to ‘repent for his worldly sins.’ Seungcheol was forced to listen through it the entire night on Skype with a threat that Joshua would tell the whole school about his darkest secret if he ever fell asleep in the middle of it.

Needless to say, Seungcheol didn’t get a wink of sleep that night.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. This is my first published fic after a long, long, long time so I hoped you guys enjoyed it! There might be more of this, though. I just don't know when they'll be made. So stay tuned!
> 
> And Thank you, Bidachii, for beta-reading this one. ( ˘ ³˘)♥


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